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[special_title title="Record Retention"] [/special_title]

If you are keeping every bill and your filing cabinet is now bulging-it s time to purge the documents that aren’t necessary to keep.

Many people are unsure of how long to keep certain documents and how to properly dispose of the ones that they decide to throw out.  Most identity theft comes from paper documents.  Security experts advise that you purge personal files each year and shred these items.

Here are some basic guidelines for record retention:

Tax Returns:  Keep all records for 7 years.

Bank Statements:  Banking institutions maintain your records; also shred all ATM receipts after you balance your check book.  You should also keep all credit card statements for 3months.

Medical Insurance:  Keep all premium statements, doctor bills, prescription bills, etc.. For 5 years along with dates of services.

Home Insurance: Maintain for 5 years.

Pay Stubs: Most people save these, but it’s a mistake.  These include everything that a thief needs to steal your identity.  If you must, only keep for 3 months.

Home Repairs: Maintain for 10 years to guarantee workmanship.

Mortgage Documents:  Keep loan information until the mortgage is paid off.

Be sure when disposing of documents containing personal information that you shred the document in order to prevent identity theft.